As part of the deal, SoftBank has also acquired Schaft, a bipedal robotics firm
Japanese internet conglomerate SoftBank Group has acquired Google owner Alphabet’s robotics firm Boston Dynamics for an undisclosed amount. As part of the deal, Japanese bipedal robotics company Schaft will also come under the ownership of SoftBank.
The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals. News of the acquisition saw SoftBank’s share price rose by 7.24 per cent, its highest in 17 years.
Spun off from MIT in 1992, Boston Dynamics has designed at least 11 robots, including the quadrupedal BigDog, land speed record-breaking Cheetah, vertical surface climbing RISE, jumping SandFlea, and the bipedal PETMAN.
It is also the creator of humanoid robot Atlas. Some of these were funded by military organisations such as the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA).
The robotics company was first acquired by Google in 2013. Boston Dynamics was the eighth robotics firm that it purchased, as part of its “moonshot” vision to spearhead a robotics-led manufacturing future. The company was then placed under the ominous-sounding “Replicant” divison — named after the Androids in the dystopian sci-fi film Blade Runner.
But three years later, Google started to get cold feet. When Boston Dynamics posted a video of Atlas, which could pick itself up when toppled, Google panicked. In a leaked internal email, Courtney Hohne, a director of communications at Google, said that the company did not want to spark a media debate about how jobs might be threatened by such technology.
A few months before, Google’s restructuring, which created the parent company Alphabet, also placed these ambitious projects in jeopardy. Alphabet wanted to rein in spending — particularly on “moonshot” projects.
Alphabet then started exploring options to sell off Boston Dynamics. Interested buyers reportedly included Amazon and Toyota.
Now, Boston Dynamics new owner may signal a change in fortune and breathe fresh vigour into the robotics company.
“We at Boston Dynamics are excited to be part of SoftBank’s bold vision and its position creating the next technology revolution, and we share SoftBank’s belief that advances in technology should be for the benefit of humanity,” Marc Raibert, CEO and founder of Boston Dynamics, said in an official press statement.
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“We look forward to working with SoftBank in our mission to push the boundaries of what advanced robots can do and to create useful applications in a smarter and more connected world,” he added.
For SoftBank, the acquisition aligns with its vision to grow robotics technology. In 2014, it grew a separate robotics division simply called SoftBank Robotics, which aims to advance the “development, sales and maintenance of Humanoid Robots and Service Robots.”
One of its first creation is Pepper, an affable-looking service robot that can reportedly analyse humans’ facial expressions, body movements, and words to determine their emotions.
“Today, there are many issues we still cannot solve by ourselves with human capabilities. Smart robotics are going to be a key driver of the next stage of the Information Revolution, and Marc and his team at Boston Dynamics are the clear technology leaders in advanced dynamic robots,” said Masayoshi Son, Chairman & CEO of SoftBank Group, in an press statement.
“I am thrilled to welcome them to the SoftBank family and look forward to supporting them as they continue to advance the field of robotics and explore applications that can help make life easier, safer and more fulfilling,” he added.
Boston Dynamics may fare better in the Japanese market. A recent World Robotics Report stated that Japan ranks third in the industrial robot sales market, behind South Korea and China.
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